


And After That

by swanqueenfic13



Series: Little Luthor [9]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Coming out of the (Super) Closet, Couch Cuddles, Dogs, Domestic Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Gertrude makes an appearance, Nightmares, Superhero names, puppy fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-22
Updated: 2017-05-22
Packaged: 2018-11-03 17:32:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10972050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swanqueenfic13/pseuds/swanqueenfic13
Summary: “What if… would you stay over tonight? Just to sleep. I just… I just want you near me,” Lena finally asks, barely able to look at Kara but always staying near her, practically curled into her chest as they stand there.“What about Lydia?” Kara asks hesitantly.OR:After spending so much time apart, Lena can't bear to separate from Kara for the night. So, they go back to Lena's place together to relieve the babysitter. It's the first time Kara stays over while Lydia is there. How will things go in the morning?





	And After That

**Author's Note:**

> This one picks up directly after my fic Secrets and Lies, so you'd probably want to read that one first! (And the whole Little Luthor series, just so you understand this universe :D).
> 
>  
> 
> *UPDATE* I have decided after some reflection to make Maggie Sawyer's character in my fics reflect her character in the DC universe rather than reflect the actress who portrays her on Supergirl. I originally made this Maggie Italian because Floriana Lima is Italian, but it had been brought to my attention that Maggie is Hispanic so I will be changing all of my fics to reflect this. In the future, if you catch a reference to Maggie being Italian in any of these fics, let me know so I can change it. Have a nice day!

Lena and Kara lay tangled up in each other for a while, content to just hold each other close. Occasionally, one would lean in and kiss the other, but most of the time, it was enough to just hold each other. Lena gave updates about what she was doing with all of her Luthor assets. Kara talked about Alex and Maggie and Jamie, sticking to easier subjects and avoiding her powers. But eventually, Lena glanced at the clock.

“I should really get back. I have to relieve Sam so she can go home. She’s got finals coming up,” Lena sighs. Kara pulls her to her feet, clearly reluctant. “But… I don’t quite want to let go of you. Not yet.” Lena bites her lip, thinking for a moment. Kara just squeezes her hand.

“What if… would you stay over tonight? Just to sleep. I just… I just want you near me,” Lena finally asks, barely able to look at Kara but always staying near her, practically curled into her chest as they stand there.

“What about Lydia?” Kara asks hesitantly. Lena glances at the clock to double-check the time.

“She’s asleep. If you’re awake and moving before her, she doesn’t really need to know. And if she finds out, we can explain that you and I made up and wanted to surprise her in the morning. And that I missed you so much,” Lena decides. She pauses, smiling. “She’d like that. She’s missed you, too.”

“It’s not quite the same, seeing her at school,” Kara remarks.

“I’d imagine.” Lena sighs, holding Kara a moment longer before moving to go put her shoes on, still holding Kara’s hand. They have to drop it so they can pull on their coats now that the night has brought a chill, but as soon as they’re in the hallway and on the way to Lena’s car, their hands intertwine again and they’re walking so close to each other that they’re bumping shoulders with every step. And when they get in the car, their hands find each other on top of the console. Lena knows she’ll eventually have to let go, but for now, she just holds Kara tight.

 

On the way home, Lena calls to check in with the babysitter and make sure Lydia is sound asleep for the night.

“Okay, good. I’m on my way back with- yes, with Kara. I know. Yes, yes, Sam, we did get back together. I know- yes, Lydia will be so happy. But she’s asleep, right? Good, we will tell her in the morning. Okay, we’ll only be about ten minutes, dear. Call or text to let me know if she wakes up between now and then, okay? Excellent. See you soon,” Lena says, smiling. Kara just grinned.

“She’s happy we’re back together?” Kara giggles.

“All of the babysitters will be. You know they love you, dear,” Lena says with a smirk, rolling her eyes.

“But not like you do,” Kara quips. But there’s a vulnerability in her tone, an unwritten question mark as if she needs to check now. It breaks Lena’s heart that she’s shaken Kara’s faith in her love, that she’s the cause of the tremble in her voice.

“I would certainly hope not,” Lena laughs. Kara chuckles but trails off. Lena tugs her hand until Kara looks at her. “I hope not because I love you like the stars love you: constant and present and bright, forever and ever and always. I love you to the stars and back. I love you, Kara Danvers of Midvale and I love you, Kara Zor-El of the great and noble House of El, last daughter of Krypton. I love you. So much,” Lena says firmly. She glances when she hears Kara sniffle to smile reassuringly at her.

“I love you, too, Lena,” Kara says with a watery smile. Lena kisses the knuckles on their intertwined hands. They drive in relative silence, listening to the soft sounds of the radio and the crickets chirping outside and Kara’s occasional sniffle. By the time they pull into Lena’s parking garage, it’s nearly midnight and both women are yawning, leaning against each other as they make their way to Lena’s home- to what is quickly becoming _their_ home.

“Hey, Sam,” Lena smiles when she unlocks the door. The young girl with her light brown skin and dark hair just smiles wordlessly, nodding to Kara.

“Hey, Lena. Kara.”

“How are finals going, Sam?”

“Good, almost done. Just got a few more to go.” She nods, pulling a face as she shrugs. Lena chuckles.

“Well, I hope I haven’t cut into your study time too much. I just… had some things to do,” Lena said, leaning into Kara.

“Wasn’t aware your middle name was ‘things’, Kara,” Sam says, smirking. Kara gasps and Lena’s eyes widen.

“Samantha Marie!” she scolds, but the effect is ruined by her laughter.

“Sorry, sorry, you just kind of set yourself up for it,” Sam laughs. “But, I really should get going. I’ve got a paper to write.”

“Yes, yes, of course,” Lena says as she goes into her purse for the cash she’d gotten on her way to Kara’s. “And I really am sorry to keep you. I hope Lydia wasn’t too much trouble?”

“Oh, no, she was just fine. We had some pasta and meatballs for dinner. She watched an episode of _Paw Patrol_ , played a bit. Took a little bit of a fight to get her to take a bath so it was just a quick one. Um… She- she, like, also didn’t really want to go to bed, y’know? She didn’t want to go to bed without seeing you, but I promised that you would be there when she woke up and she ended up falling asleep a while later. Not that she didn’t try to stay up,” Sam explained as she packed up her backpack, put the cash from Lena into her wallet.

“Okay, thank you, Sam. Do you have a way to get home?” The girl nods.

“Yeah, I’m good. See you next time. Good night!”

“Night.”

“Night, Sam.” The door clicks behind her and Lena quickly locks it before turning to smile at Kara.

“Can I get you a glass of wine? Or water? Anything?” Lena offers, more than a bit nervous. It’s like she had forgotten how to do this, forgotten how to spend the night with Kara in the few weeks they’d been apart.Of course, this time was entirely different because this time there is no agenda, no goal of getting each other off, of making love, of a night of sex. No, tonight the only plan is to hold each other, to fall asleep, to be with each other because Lydia is one room over and Lena is not ready to be having sex while her daughter is one room over.

“No, no, it’s fine. I just… Do you still have an extra toothbrush? I hadn’t exactly brushed my teeth before you came over,” Kara winces.

“I never threw yours out,” Lena tells her honestly. She leads Kara into the bathroom and they brush their teeth together, sharing the sink and smiling at each other in the mirror, bumping shoulders in their attempt to share the small space. It felt domestic, it felt like home. Once they were done, Lena shyly took Kara by the hand and led her into the bedroom.

“You’ve still got a drawer full of stuff here, too. In case it’s too hot and you want to change into shorts or something,” Lena adds as she pulls down the covers on her side. Kara just smiles and crawls into bed next to Lena, going to spoon her. To her mild surprise, Lena rolls over in her grasp so that she’s facing her, nuzzling her head into Kara’s neck.

“I’ve missed this,” Kara exhales softly, pressing a kiss to the crown of Lena’s head. Lena just snuggles closer, as if trying to commit Kara’s scent to memory.

“Me too. And I’m so sorry I-”

“Don’t apologize for taking the time you needed to figure things out. Did I miss you? Yeah. But I know you needed to figure things out, and you deserved to do that. If we were going to continue… this-” she gestures vaguely between them “-then I wanted you to be sure that you wanted all of me.” Lena shifts back so she can look at Kara better.

“And I do,” Lena says quickly. “And maybe, tomorrow morning or afternoon or… as soon as we can, I want to talk more. I want… to hear about your planet. And what it was like growing up with the Danvers, having this secret. I want to know about your planet. I want to know everything that you are willing to share. And in turn, I will tell you everything I thought, everything I felt, from the moment I met you. Or anything else you want to know. I want… I want all of you, Kara. And I hope you want all of me, too.” Lena leans in to kiss Kara fiercely, to make her feel the veracity of Lena’s words with her mouth, with her tongue.

“I do, I do,” Kara breathes when they finally pull apart, both out of breath and smiling, cheeks flushed and hair gently tousled. “But I also know that we have time. Time to discuss this later. And it’s late, so we should get to bed. We both have work in the morning.” Lena nods in agreement, but they stay facing each other, both with their eyes open. Lena lazily trails a finger over Kara’s face, tracing the outline of her lips, the planes of her cheeks, the freckles across her nose, as if she were committing it to memory

“Krypton had a red sun. Did you know that?” Kara says after a moment, once it was clear that Lena would not be closing her eyes just yet, afraid that once she opened them, this would all be a dream.

“Yeah?” Lena knew this, of course. She was Lex Luthor’s little sister, and she remembered the days when he first became friends with the all-American hero who went by Superman. He’d always come home spouting out facts about the superhero’s home planet and his powers. But Lena wanted to hear it straight from the source. Superman had been a baby when he left, he only knew what he’d been told about the red sun. But Kara had felt it, she could remember the way it warmed her skin, the way it smelled in the summer. So she just smiled and let Kara continue speaking.

“Your yellow sun is what gives me my powers. The different type of radiation affects my cells. And I like the powers- trust me, I do, they’re cool. But… I miss the red sun. I miss the way it bathed everything in this reddish tint, everything tinged pink and red. I miss the way it felt on my skin, warm and whole and safe in a way I don’t get with the yellow sun. And maybe that’s just me. Maybe it’s just because I have memories of the red sun that make it harder for me to feel attached to your sun. Or maybe it’s because in the red sun, I felt Rao.” Kara speaks the name with such reverence. It clicks in Lena’s mind. She’s heard that word before. _Rao_ . Often spoken when Kara is astounded, when she is stunned, impressed, or amazed. Lena’s even heard her muttering it during sex, the same way Lena mutters “oh my God, oh my God, don’t stop, please don’t stop, oh my _God_.”

“Tell me more about Rao,” Lena asks softly. She intertwines their fingers on one hand and Kara pulled her closer with the other, inhaling deeply.

“Rao is our god. He’s our benevolent creator who made our planets out of chaos.” Lena closes her eyes and hums as Kara tells stories of Rao, sings the ancient songs in her mother tongue and paints pictures of how it felt to live in Rao’s warm, loving light. Lena fell asleep thinking she may have found that feeling here, safe in Kara’s arms.

 

“M-mommy, M-m-mommy! I ne-eed you,” Lydia whimpered as she ran into her mother’s room. Her pullup was damp between her legs and she would be embarrassed about that if she wasn’t still so afraid, if she wasn’t still shaking from her bad dream. Because the bad man is going to jail, but what if he breaks out? In the movies, bad guys break out of jail all the time. In Lydia’s dream, he broke out and came to their home to hurt them again. But she knows her Mommy will make the bad dreams go away so she crawls into her bed only to find her Mommy already snuggling with someone else.

“Mama?” she asks. Suddenly, both of them are awake, blinking and looking at her. Lydia doesn’t question it. She just launches herself in between them, shaking and crying. Their arms encircle her and squeeze her tight, making her feel safe and warm and loved. Lulled almost back to sleep, Lydia just whines a little bit when Mommy moves her to change her into a dry pullup. But she’s asleep and snuggled in between them before she can even wake up.

 

“Does this happen often?” Kara whispers over Lydia’s head. They had finally calmed her down and gotten her back to sleep.

“For a little while it was multiple times a night. She just… was terrified that the man would come back. That he’d hurt us. I had to put her back in diapers at night because I couldn’t trust her not to wet the bed,” Lena whispers. Kara just hugs both of her girls close, kissing Lydia’s forehead. “I’ve been bringing her to her therapist a lot. She talked to the police officers who told her he was going to jail for a long time. It’s been helping. She’s cut back on the nightmares but… I don’t know when they’ll stop. I don’t… know how long it’ll take… for them to go away… or even _if_ they’ll go away.” And Lena’s crying now, terrified that she’d scarred her child forever, that she’d broken her the same way Lillian had broken Lena herself. Kara just pulls her as close as she can, sandwiching Lydia between them.

“They might. They might not. But even if she has nightmares for the rest of her life, she’ll always have us to hold her when she wakes up. To hold her, to dry her tears, to remind her that it was just a bad dream. And I will do the same for you, because don’t try and tell me that you’re not having nightmares, too,” Kara adds. Lena chuckles sadly. Lydia squirms in their hold and they both freeze, but Lydia just nuzzles into Kara’s neck, inhaling and smiling. She presses back against Lena’s front and curls into her mothers’ hold.

“I do. I just… She’s so _little_ and none of this is her fault-”

“You think it’s yours?” Kara interrupts. Lena freezes and Kara narrows her eyes. “Lena Violet Luthor, you did _nothing_ to deserve this. None of the bad things that have happened to you is your fault, do you hear me?” There’s a fire in her voice, a steadfast conviction and absolute belief in Lena that has her almost crying.

“Yeah, I do,” Lena whispers, blinking away the tears. Kara wipes away the stray tears as they roll down her cheeks.

“Now, I’d kiss you to make it better but there’s something in our way here,” Kara adds with a wry nod towards Lydia’s sleeping form between them. Lena just nods and snuggles into them, letting her eyes close as she falls back asleep, hearing the faint sounds of Kara humming.

 

Kara wakes first the next morning, a tangle of limbs and dark brown hair in her face. She smiles as she spits it out, not knowing what comes from Lena and what comes from Lydia. Both of her girls are curled up together, Lydia on top of Lena’s chest and Lena leaning into Kara, half wrapped around her body. Kara wants to surprise them, wants to make breakfast. Because she knows that both she and Lena have apologized and all is forgiven, but she still wants to make them breakfast. She wants to do it not just to apologize, but to make them feel good. She wants to feel domestic, like they’re one big happy family, all living under the same roof. She wants to make breakfast so that she can imagine future breakfasts, she she can imagine more of what she almost lost forever.

Kara wants to make breakfast but Lydia has other plans. As soon as Kara starts to move, Lydia wraps her arms around Kara’s neck, mumbling sleepily and blinking her eyes.

“Mama?” she mumbles, smiling broadly. She closes her eyes and wiggles closer. “Thought it was a dream,” she says into Kara’s neck. Kara just holds her tighter.

“No, baby, it wasn’t a dream. Wanna come to help Mama make breakfast? We can surprise Mommy,” she suggests softly, carefully watching to see if Lena is waking up.

“Yeah,” she nods eagerly.

“Shhh, don’t wake her,” she adds. Lydia pulls away just enough to giggle at Kara, putting a finger to her lips.

“Shhh,” she agrees. Kara smiles, holding Lena to her chest as she climbs out of bed, carrying her to the bathroom first.

“Go potty and wash your hands first,” Kara tells her. Lydia nods, rubbing her eyes sleepily. When she comes out with dripping wet hands and a sleepy yawn, Kara scoops her up again and they head into the kitchen. “What do you think, little cub? Should we make eggs or bacon or pancakes or sausage?”

“Yeah!” Lydia giggles, kicking her feet.

“Which one?” Kara chuckles, setting Lydia on a spot on the counter, keeping an eye on her as she checks the fridge and pantry for ingredients.

“All of ‘em! But I want waffles ‘stead of pancakes, please.” Kara just smiles, shaking her head. She _is_ hungry, after all. And this is a perfect time to explain to Lena more about her alien physiology.

“Alright cub, waffles it is.” She bops Lydia on the nose before gathering the ingredients and setting Lydia on a stool now to help with the stirring and preparation, both too involved in the process to notice Lena pad out of the bedroom, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, take one look at the pair of them giggling and shushing each other before smiling and heading back into the bedroom, not wanting to ruin the surprise.

 

When they finish breakfast and manage to ‘wake’ Lena for the ‘surprise’, it’s with Lydia jumping onto the bed.

“Mommy, Mommy, wake up! Wake up! Mama and I made breakfast!” she yells, giggling when Lena immediately sits up and hugs her, pulling her down onto the bed.

“No, you stay in bed! Stay in bed for cuddles and tickles, “ she says in a fake monster voice, tickling her little girl. Lydia giggles and squeals, trying to squirm away but Lena holds on tight, rolling over to trap her under the covers.

“Mommy, no! Ah! No more tickles! Breakfast!” Lydia cries out in between her peals of laughter. Kara comes and stands in the doorway, smiling and watching her girls cuddle.

“The food is getting cold, love,” Kara reminds her. Lena smiles, letting up on tickling and sitting up again, pulling Lyda into her lap, absently combing through her daughter’s hair.

“Did you make-”

“Waffles, bacon, eggs, sausage, and some fruit,” Kara finishes. Lena stands, holding Lydia on her hip and walking towards the kitchen table.

“Oh, good job, Lyd. Did you help set the table?” Lena whispers. Lydia nodded proudly. “Good girl. Why don’t you sit down and I’ll go to the bathroom and wash my hands first, hmm? Think you can remember what Mommy likes for breakfast and help Mama put it on a plate for me?”

“Yeah!” Lydia squirms down to the floor, proud to help before Lena heads off to the bathroom. Once she comes back, she finds her plate piled high with fruit salad, half of a waffle, a small scoop of eggs, and three strips of bacon, a glass of apple juice in front of her plate.

“You remembered!” Lena praised, kissing Lydia’s temple before moving to rip Lydia’s waffle into small pieces. Kara was already cutting up a sausage for her while Lydia munched on some grapes. Once the cut up food is back on her plate, all three of the women begin to eat. Lydia breaks the silence of their chewing.

“Mommy?”

“Yes, baby?”

“Why was Mama in your bed last night? And this mornin’?” Kara chokes on a bite of her waffle.

“Hmmm,” the blonde stuttered.

“Remember how I told you that Mama and I needed to figure out some grown up stuff?” Lena says calmly. Lydia nods, still munching quietly. “Well, yesterday while you were with Sam, we did figure those things out. And I missed Mama, so when it was time to go to bed, I asked her to come here. That way we could spend time together and surprise you!” Lena answers easily.

“Oh. Okay,” Lydia says brightly.

“While we’re talking about last night, baby girl, wanna tell us about that bad dream you had?” Lena asks. Lydia just whines, kicking her feet.

“I-I don’t… I don’t wanna,” she pouts. Kara, sitting next to Lydia, just strokes her hair, tucking a loose strand behind her ear.

“Sweet girl, we can’t make you feel any better if you don’t talk to us about it,” Kara tells her. Lydia inhales deeply, twisting her fingers in her lap and staring at her plate.

“The bad man escaped from jail. Like in the movies. And he came to hurt us but the superhero wasn’t there to save us,” she says quickly like she’s afraid she won’t get it all out if she slows down. “And I didn’t mean to have an accident but I just got so scared and when I woke up I was already wet! And I’m sorry I woke you up but sometimes my bad dreams make me forget what’s real and I couldn’t ‘member where you were so I had to go find you!”

“Hey, hey, little bear, it’s okay! Nobody’s mad at you, hear me? We just want you to feel safe. You can always wake up us if you need to, yeah?” Kara assures her, stroking her hair still.

“And baby, remember what your doctor said? The scary dreams are just that- they’re dreams. And your Auntie Maggie is a police officer, remember? She promised that she wouldn’t let the bad guy escape and hurt us. The bad guys don’t escape _nearly_ as often as they do in movies and TV, and we know that movies and TV are just pretend, right?” Lena jumps in. Lydia just nods, still sniffling and whimpering.

“And the superhero will always be there to save you. I promise,” Kara whispers, kissing her head. Lena just nods, making eye contact over Lydia’s head. They’ll need to talk about that later, about her superhero. But for now, they just focus on calming Lydia down and finishing breakfast.

 

“Do you think we could get your sister to take Lydia for a few hours? Or even just one, so we can talk a bit more?” Lena asks while they’re cleaning up breakfast. Lydia had run into her room to pick out an outfit for the day. Lena was putting the leftovers in the fridge while Kara washed the dishes.

“Let me just text her,” Kara whispers, drying off her hands and picking up her phone. Before she can even put her hands back in the soapy water, her phone buzzes with a reply. “Yeah, they can be over here in forty minutes. They want to ask if it’s alright to take her with them to an adoption fair at the park.”

“That’s fine, but she can’t come home with any pets today. I mean, Alex and Maggie can, but Lydia can’t,” Lena says, rubbing her forehead.

“Yeah, of course. Why don’t you go help her get ready and make sure she knows that? I can finish up in here.” Kara kisses Lena before going back to the dishes. Lena smiles, having missed the press of Kara’s lips on hers before going to Lydia’s room.

 

“And do you remember Mommy’s rules?” Lena reminds her.

“Listen to Auntie Alex and Tia Maggie. Stay where they can see me. Um… no whining. And no bringing home aminals from the ‘doption fair. I can look, and I can pet ‘em but I can’t take ‘em home,” she recites, straightening her princess shirt.

“Good girl. Now, go have fun. We’ll see you soon, alright?” she kisses Lydia’s head when she hugs her and sends her off with a beaming Alex, Maggie, and Jamie.

“We’re trying to get a puppy today!” Jamie had proclaimed proudly.

“We’re gonna name her Gertrude,” Alex chuckles.

“We are _not_ ,” Maggie huffs, elbowing her. Kara just chuckles, shaking her head and shooing her sister and her family out the door, bidding Lydia goodbye as they go. Once the door closes, Lena smiles and turns to Kara, taking her by the hand and leading her to the couch.

“When did Auntie Maggie become Tia Maggie?” Lena asks with a raised eyebrow, leaning into the side of the couch and smirking at her girlfriend.

“We were talking about family in school one day and we talked about how people call their family members different things in different languages. And we read this book with a Hispanic family, and the little girl called her aunt ‘Tia’. Lyd remembered that Maggie is Hispanic and she asked me if she could call her Tia Maggie. I asked Mags, and she said it was fine.” Kara shrugged, leaning her head onto the side of the couch, sitting sideways and smiling at Lena. “Is that what you wanted to talk about?”

“Ah, umm, no. I… We need to… I want to know more about your… alien side. Your super side, y’know?” Lena stumbles through this discussion. “Like… what happens now… now that you came out… like… of the super closet? Or whatever- stop laughing! I don’t know how to do this!” Lena whines a little bit.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Kara says, stifling her chuckles. “I just… When I came out of the ‘ _super closet_ ’ as you put it, I had to talk to my sister a lot. She works… she works for this top secret government agency. Has for a while, actually, but she couldn’t really tell me about it. So I’m working with them, putting together a new superhero persona. For now, um… did you see me on the news? I did a few more small things-”

“Right, right. The Blur saved… a schoolbus full of kids that was driving out of control, um, stopped a drug store robbery, a bank robbery, and an attempted kidnapping in the past two weeks, right?” Lena interrupted. Jess had told her about it, that the news had recognized the Blur as a hero, not someone working for Lillian Luthor.

“All stuff that involved kids. It was my idea! That way- see, that way, I get painted as a vigilante who has a soft spot for saving kids! And I saved you _and_ Lydia, a child. Not because you’re a Luthor. Isn’t it great?” Kara beamed. Lena tears up a little, still smiling.

“That was… _thank you_ ,” she says sincerely. She wipes at her eyes haphazardly and Kara pulls her closer, hugging her. Lena just sniffles.

“I would do _anything_ for you, Lena.”

“So you’re… you’re still going to be a… a superhero? Like your cousin?” Lena asks after a while, pulling away so that she can look at Kara.

“Uh-huh,” Kara replies, fiddling nervously with her hands. What if Lena thought it was too dangerous? Or that she wasn’t good enough? “I was thinking… I could be something like… Superwoman? Or… Peacebringer? Something like… I want to help people,” Kara explains. Lena gently takes her hand, interlacing their fingers to stop Kara’s fidgeting.

“Superwoman… Is a bit of a mouthful. And similar to Wonder Woman. Peacebringer… I like the idea but… Not quite right. Maybe… What’s your name… from home? From… Krypton?” Lena asks hesitantly.

“ _Kara Zor-El_ ,” she says. And the first name may be the same but Kara puts a different inflection on it, rolls the sounds differently in her mother tongue.

“What about… Just Zor-El? Or… I don’t know, babe. Could we… talk about this a little later?”

“Oh, right! Sorry, what did you want to talk about?” Kara asks.

“What do you want to tell Lydia? About you being a superhero? Because obviously, you’ll be busier and you could get hurt… But she’s going to ask questions about where you are and she’s little so I don’t know how good she’ll be at keeping secrets. I just… I-I don’t- what do I tell her? When she asks where you are?” Kara squeezes Lena’s hands reassuringly.

“I… She’s _three years old_ , Lena. It’s… a lot of pressure for a little kid like that. And if… I don’t want someone to hurt her for information about me. That terrifies me! I hate the idea of lying to her, it actually hurts me! But… But I think, right now, it might be… for the best. Is that okay?”

“Yes, of course,” Lena said immediately. “Kara, I know I didn’t act like it at first, but this is _your_ secret and you get to tell people at _your_ pace. It’s not my decision to make, and I shouldn’t get mad when you decide to tell anyone.”

“Okay, so… We’ll tell her later. When she’s older and can handle it better. Um… What else?”

“Just… be safe? When you’re out there… I know you want to go out there… and save people… but just come back to me? Please? I don’t… I wouldn’t know what to do without you. I’ve known you… what, nine months? Eight?”

“Eight,” Kara croaks back.

“Eight months, and I cannot… I cannot even _imagine_ my life without you in it. I tried. When we were… apart… I thought about what would happen if… if you didn’t _want_ me back… because I reacted so poorly? It… I didn’t really know how I could do that. How _we_ could do that. It would break Lydia. She’s… It’s always just been me and her. But now we’ve got a good little family going. You, me, her, Maggie, Alex, Jamie. It’s… Just… be safe?”

“Of course. I will do… I will do _everything_ I can to come back to you. Always,” Kara vowed, pulling Lena close to kiss her, to reassure her. Lena scoots closer on the couch, practically pulling herself into Kara’s lap, kissing her desperately. She starts to cry, remembering how terrified she is, even now, thinking about how she might lose Kara. So Kara just holds her, pulls her properly onto her lap and lets Lena hide her face in Kara’s neck, shaking and crying with her, feeling her pain and fear, until they’re both sniffling and cried out.

“So… who’s designing your suit?” Lena asks with a smile, trying to lighten the mood.

“Oh! My friend Winn!” Kara beams back. Already, her alien biology is healing her puffy, red face. Lena is jealous; within seconds, it looks like she’d never cried and Lena is certain she still looks a mess.

“I thought he did IT stuff for a government- oh my God, he works for the alien CIA thing that your sister does,” Lena gasps. Kara blushes, nodding.

“He’s also… An _awesome_ seamstress. With an eye for design. Really, he’s… He’s good at this,” Kara praises.

“Hmmm… You think he’d be amenable to letting me help? Not with the more _fashionable_ design elements- I have no eye for it, so I trust his judgment- but I’d like to help with practicality. I’ve been working on some designs for a better, more lightweight bulletproof armor, some durable fabrics… and maybe I could try and find something that’ll keep you safe from Kryptonite. It affects you, too, right? The same way it affects Superman?”

“Uh, y-y-yeah. You wanna- you’ve been working on that? You want to help-” Lena interrupts Kara’s stammered astonishments with a quick kiss, pulling back and smiling.

“Of course. I told you: I don’t want to lose you. And if that means designing a suit that’ll keep you safe, then I’ll do just that,” Lena promises.

“I’ll talk to Winn about it later,” Kara says, snuggling down into the couch, pulling Lena close.

“Why don’t you… tell me about you. About… growing up with powers? Or something,” Lena asks, yawning.

“I grew up… in Midvale. I grew up with the Danvers: Jeremiah, Eliza, and Alex. Alex… um, she didn’t always like me because I was this… I was this weird alien who shared her bathroom and was fascinated by… by stupid _birds_ of all things,” Kara sighed dreamily, settling back to tell the story, idly playing with Lena’s fingers.

“Birds?” Lena asked curiously.

“We didn’t have them on Krypton. Now are you going to keep interrupting or can I tell the story?” Kara asks playfully. Lena raises her eyebrows, pantomiming zipping her lips shut and throwing away the key, relaxing back and closing her eyes to let Kara’s words wash over her.

 

“Auntie, Auntie, look at this one!” Lydia called. They had played on the playground for a while, Auntie Alex making Lydia go so high she felt like she was in _space_ when she went on the swings. But after a while, they took hold of Lyd and Jamie’s hands and led them on a long, long walk across the park. But when they got there, they found a whole bunch of puppies and kitties! They were in little pens running around and lots of families were looking at them and playing with them. Jamie tugged them towards the big dogs but Lydia wanted to go see the kitties and littler dogs, so her Auntie had gone with her. She was holding a puppy right now and wanted Auntie to look.

“That’s a corgi, Lyd. It says right here that her name is Stella, and she’s almost seven,” Alex says, reading from a piece of paper on the dog’s pen.

“Is she gonna get any bigger?” Lydia asks, giggling as the dog crawls onto her lap to lick her face. She doesn’t notice Alex taking a video on her phone.

“Nope. Doggies and kitties are usually all done growing by the time they’re one year old. Corgis and some other types of dogs stay little like this. Do you like little doggies?” Alex asks, kneeling down now, still recording.

“Yeah! He’s little, like me!” Lydia giggles, patting the dog on the head.

“This dog is a ‘she’,” Alex reminds her with a smile.

“You should get this one! She’s a snuggly dog!” Lydia smiled.

“Yeah, she is! But Maggie really likes big dogs. I don’t know why since your Tia is so tiny!” Alex laughs. “Why don’t you say bye-bye to Stella and we can go visit some other doggies? Or you could pet the kitties, if you want,” Alex suggests.

“Okay,” Lydia says sadly, looking and sounding like a little Eeyore as she presses a kiss to the top of the excited corgi’s head. “Bye-bye Stella. I hope you find a fambly to love you,” she adds, kissing her and petting the dog before Alex ends the video and scoops her out of the pen. Stella whines sadly as they walk away and Lydia waves at her from Alex’s shoulder.

“Mommy, we found one! Look, and she’s just a baby, and she’s a German Shepherd, a police doggy like Mama likes!” Jamie called. Alex came striding over, putting Lydia down next to the pen where Jamie is sitting with the little puppy. Lydia tries to squirm her way in before Maggie plops her over the gate. While Lydia sat down with Jamie to pet the puppy, giggling as it sniffed and licked her fingers, Alex bumped Maggie’s shoulder.

“So, Danvers, you ready for our first dog?” Maggie asks.

“Um, it’s _Sawyer-_ Danvers. And I’ve been ready for Gertrude for years. One more down on our lifetime of firsts,” Alex smirks, bending down to kiss her wife.

 

When they arrive back to drop off Lydia, they’re now toting their brand new puppy Gertrude Roxie Sawyer-Danvers, with a new leash. They’d stopped at a pet store on the way home to pick up food, toys, a bed and the other essentials and Lydia had ‘helped’ Jamie hold her leash the whole time, giggling and in awe that there was a real puppy walking with her. When they walked in, it was to find Kara and Lena snuggling on the couch, asleep and tangled up in each other. Neither one had a shirt on and their pants were tugged down around their ankles. Luckily, Jamie and Lydia were too busy with Gertrude to notice.

“Okay! Let’s bring Gertie into the kitchen so she doesn’t have an accident on the carpet,” Maggie says, quickly pushing the girls towards the kitchen, out of sight from the living room. Alex went to go wake up her sister, flicking her on the nose. Kara startles, waking Lena with a yelp as they practically fell off the bed in their surprise.

“Hey, horndogs, we came to drop off your kid and show you our new dog. Maybe get some clothes on before you come see her?” Alex whispers harshly. Kara and Lena seem to be having a competition: whose face can get redder faster. They’re hurriedly pulling on their clothes, now aware of the sounds of Lydia, Jamie and a high pitched barking coming from the kitchen, spurring them to move faster. “Oh, and you _better_ get this damn couch cleaned if you ever expect me to come over for game night or movie night or something,” Alex adds over her shoulder. Lena just groans into Kara’s shoulder for a moment before they go to join the rest of their family in the kitchen.


End file.
